March 24, 2008

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
No Carville Apology for Judas Remark
Associated Press (03/24/2008: abcnews.go.com)
Hillary Rodham Clinton adviser James Carville is refusing to apologize for comparing New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson to Judas. Carville made the comparison to The New York Times after Richardson, once a member of President Clinton's Cabinet, endorsed Hillary Clinton rival Barack Obama last week for the Democratic presidential nomination.

This time, evangelicals aren't just GOP bloc
Christopher QuinnAtlanta Journal-Constitution (03/24/2008)
Seventy-eight percent of evangelicals voted for Republican President George Bush in 2004. That lopsided advantage in such a large bloc of voters helped push Bush to victory in key states like Ohio. That advantage is dwindling, many agree.

ABORTION
Supreme Court allows abortions for inmates
CNN (03/24/2008)
WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court on Monday let stand a lower court's ruling that female inmates have a constitutional right to abortions off the jail grounds. The case involved an Arizona woman who wanted a first-trimester abortion, but was refused transportation by corrections officials in Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix. The county appealed a lower court decision in favor of the woman.

MEDICINE
When a baby is destined to die
Linda Dahlstrom/MSNBC (03/24/2008)
As the number of pregnant women being routinely screened has risen, so have dire diagnoses before birth. Only 15 years ago, prenatal screenings could detect less than a dozen conditions, while now it's possible to test for hundreds, ranging from mild forms of hearing loss to deadly Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. But the paradox of modern medicine is that knowing doesn’t always mean the outcome will be better. Sometimes you can just see death coming from a long way off.

Believing in Miracles
Susan Levine/Washington Post (03/23/2008)
Their lives were changed in a split second, but this N.Va. couple finds comfort in the enduring values of faith, hope and love.

DOCTRINE AND PRACTICE
Obama’s Talk Fuels Easter Sermons
Laurie Goodstein and Neela Banerjee/New York Times (03/23/2008)
This Easter Sunday, the holiest day of the Christian calendar, many pastors will start their sermons about the Resurrection of Jesus and weave in a pointed message about racism and bigotry, and the need to rise above them.

Prayers to defend a legacy: Obama's new pastor confronts media glare
Manya A. Brachear/Chicago Tribune (03/24/2008)
The new pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ reminded members on Easter that after the crucifixion came a resurrection. And what was true for Jesus Christ could be true for them and their embattled leader, Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. In his inaugural Easter sermons, Rev. Otis Moss III prayed for wisdom to combat the onslaught of negative national media attention directed at the South Side church attended by Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama.